Apparatus for handling rolls of thin metal strips

ABSTRACT

Device in which sheet unwinding and winding reels can be moved on either side of the rolling mill in order to keep a certain space in which the sheet can conveniently be handled at the feedin and feed-out ends of the machine.

United States Patent Bournez 1' Aug. 29, 1972 [54] APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ROLLS [56] References Cited 0F THIN METAL STRIPS UNITED STATES PATENTS [72] Invent 522232 32221 i s; 2,734,405 2/1956 Cozzo ..242/79 x 3,049,314 8/1962 Criger ..242/79 [22] Filed: Dec. 11, 1969 3,351,299 11/1967 Fehr ..242/79 2,501,390 3/1950 Jeffreys ..242/86.5 I 884'253 2,655,653 10/1953 Chauvin ..242/86.5 x

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary ExaminerGeorge F. Mautz Assistant Examiner-Gregory A. Walters Dec. 11, 1968 France ..68177676 AttorneyflEdwin E Greigg [52] US. Cl ..242/79, 72/183 51 1m; c1 ..B21c 47/24 [57] ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search ..242/78.1, 78.6, 58.6, 79, 81, Device in which sheet unwinding and winding reels can be moved on either side of the rolling mill in order to keep a certain space in which the sheet can conveniently be handled at the feed-in and feed-out ends of the machine.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. 29, 1972 i QNEWNI APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ROLLS F THIN METAL STRIPS Thin sheets or strips, if they are beyond a certain length, are usually handled in reels. With increasing width and length dimensions of the treated strips, however, the size and weight of such reels increases more than proportionately; thus, the handling of these reels becomes increasingly difficult.

One field in which the aforenoted difiiculty is particularly felt is the continuous rolling of thin metallic strips. This is particularly the case in finishing rolling mills supplied directly from modern roughing mills or supplied by continuous strip casting apparatus.

To alleviate the aforenoted difficulties, French Pat. No. 1,426,347, issued Dec. l7, 1964, suggests an apparatus for handling in a convenient and relatively simple manner reels of substantial weight. This invention relates to a different apparatus to facilitate the handling of heavy reels. The apparatus according to the invention is particularly, but not exclusively, adapted to be associated with a rolling mill that treats thin metallic strips.

In addition to the circumstances imposed usually by the handling proper of heavy and cumbersome reels, the difficulties which are most often encountered in this type of operation arise at the moment when the strip is inserted between the rolls of the rolling mill or when the free end of the strip is to be inserted into the empty bobbin standing by at the output end of the rolling mill. One of the critical events is often the untimely rupture or breakage of the strip during the rolling process. When this occurs, in addition to restarting the bobbin on which the strip was wound prior to breakage, the rolling mill has to be cleaned because fragments due to the mpture are present. The ruptured strip continues to be emitted by the rolling mill for a certain period of time even after an emergency cut-off has been actuated.

In all known apparatus, the supports on which the empty or full bobbins are placed, are always rigidly affixed to the frame of the rolling mill or are stationarily secured to the floor.

According to one characteristic of the invention, the said supports of the bobbins are, on the contrary, independent of the rolling mill and, at will, may be caused to execute a translational movement so that they may be placed in a working position at the immediate vicinity of the rolling mill. The said position is maintained for the entire duration of the rolling operation.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the different auxiliary components which usually serve to facilitate the introduction or the outlet of the strip and serve to maintain the strip in a correct position along its traveling path are also rendered independent of the frame of the rolling mill and are mounted on the supports on which, respectively, the bobbins are mounted which said components are to serve. These components are, for example, clamping rolls, pinching rolls, deflectors, etc.

Preferably, each of these supports is formed by a strong carriage adapted to be displaced on rails in such a manner as to be adapted to assume two extreme positions. The first position is that into which a full bobbin is placed (this relates to the support located upstream of the rolling mill) and the second position, on the other hand, is the location from which the full bobbin is to be removed, that is, downstream of the rolling mill.

A rolling mill according to the invention thus is provided, in the direction of the rolling operation, by a first carriage disposed upstream of the rolling mill and supporting the full bobbin as well as necessary auxiliary components and further, immediately downstream of the rolling mill, with a second carriage carrying the empty bobbin and the appropriate accessory components. The first carriage will be hereinafter called unwinding carriage, while the second will be designated as the take-up carriage. I

According to another characteristic of the invention, a removable base, such as a telescoping flooring, is interposed between the rolling mill and each of the aforenoted carriages in the position where the said carriages are, one or the other, spaced from the rolling mill. The said base permits the attendant to comfortably place himself between the rolling mill and each of the said carriages in such a manner as to be able to perform without strenuous effort the manipulations necessary to engage the strip. In case of the strip coming from the full bobbin, the latter is engaged at the inside of the corresponding accessory components and it is solely the terminus of said strip, from the side of the rolling mill, which remains free and may thus position itself on its own between the two work cylinders when the unwinding carriage is placed into its working position.

The attendant proceeds in a similar manner when he is positioned downstream of the rolling mill on the side of the take-up carriage, should it be at the beginning of each operation or, on the contrary, subsequent to an operational failure that has caused an untimely rupture of the band.

The invention will be better understood, as well as further objects and advantages will become more apparent, from the ensuing detailed specification of a preferred, although exemplary, embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the embodiment and FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a flooring used in connection with the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

Turning now to FIG. 1, there is shown a rolling mill generally indicated at 1 and including working components, such as work cylinders, support rolls, and clamping means, none of them identified by reference numerals since they are considered to be well-known in the art.

A full bobbin 2 is placed on the unwinding carriage 4. At the opposed side of the rolling mill, there is disposed a take-up bobbin 3 placed on the take-up carriage 5. The carriages 4 and 5-may be displaced along respective roller paths l9 and 20 by means of rollers 6 associated with the unwinding carriage 4 and roller 7 associated with the take-up carriage 5.

With the unwinding bobbin 2 there are associated two fixed guiding rollers 8 and 10 disposed at the upstream end of the running strip.

There is further provided a mobile pinching roll 9 which, in its inoperative position, is disposed higher than the two previously mentioned rollers 8 and 10 but which, for its. working position, is automatically lowered so as to pinch the strip and maintain the same in a suitable manner during the rolling operation. At 102 there is shown in dash-dot lines the work position of the unwinding bobbin on its carriage. 108, 109 and 110 indicate the respective work positions of the aforenoted rollers 8, 9 and 10. At the downstream side of the rolling mill, there is indicated, again with dashdot lines, at 208, 209 and 210, three guide rollers which are supported, similarly to thebobbin 3,. by the take-up carriage 5. The reference numeral 11 indicates a further guide roller, also affixed to the take-up carriage and carried by a separate arm in such a manner to permit it to be laid on the strip once the latter is correctly engaged in its bobbin. Two bolts 12 and 13, which may be, for example, hydraulically operated, ensure on each side of the rolling mill that the two carriages 4 and 5 are properly immobilized in their working position. The displacement of the carriages 4 and 5 is preferably effected by means of double-acting jacks 14 which include a rod 15 shown in broken lines within the outline of carriage 5.

Once the bobbin 3 is full, it is removed through track 16. symmetrically with the track 16 but on the input side of the rolling mill, there is arranged a track 17 on which the bobbins or reels to be unwound are displaced towards the rolling mill. One of such reels is shown in the figure and indicated at 18. a

The apparatus according to the invention operates in the following manner:

First, the unwinding carriage 4 is withdrawn from the rolling mill. Thereafter, the attendant positions a removable base, for example, a telescoping flooring generally indicated at 22 (FIG. 2) in the space defined between the carriage 4 and the rolling mill. The telescoping flooring 22, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is of a simple structure and comprises tubular elements 23 held in a parallel spaced relationship by cross bars 24 secured thereto and parallel rods 25 supported by a cross bar 26. The assembly 25, 26 slidably fits into the tubes 23. The flooring 22 permits the attendant to place himself between the carriage 4 and the rolling mill and, facing the reel, may with ease take the terminus or free end of the strip and place the same between the guiding rolls. The free end of said strip is guided in such a manner as to engage automatically between the two rolling cylinders when, after having removed the telescoping flooring 22, the attendant moves, by means of the jack 14, the carriage 4 to its work position. The same maneuver is performed in an inverse sequence at the side of the take-up carriage regardless of whether the winding operation is manual or is performed by means of belts or any other known apcarriage into a first, or work position, and into a second, or inoperative position,

D. strip guiding means mounted on each said mobile carriage at a distance from said strip reel for engaging, positioning and guiding said strip externallyof said reel; said strip guiding means movin with its associated mobile carriage as a umt; m sai work position said strip guiding means being adjacent and in cooperating position with respect to said roller pair of said rolling mill for establishing and maintaining a running connection of said strip between said roller pair of said rolling mill and said strip guiding means.

2. An improvement as defined in claim 1, wherein said strip guiding means is formed of an assembly of rollers through which the leading end of said strip is threaded.

3. An improvement as defined in claim 2, wherein each said roller has an axis of rotation disposed normal to the running direction of said strip.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the guiding means for each said mobile carriage include two parallel rails disposed parallel to the direction of travel of said strip through said work station.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the moving means for each said mobile carriage include jacks, one part of which is afiixed to said work station and the other part of which is affixed to each said mo bile carriage.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, including means to immobilize each said carriage in its work position.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, including a removable base between the work position and each said carriage when the latter is in a location spaced from its work position. I 

1. A strip reel handling apparatus associated with a rolling mill that has an input end, an output end and at least one pair of strip-engaging rolls, the improvement comprising, A. two mobile carriages, one positioned at said input end and the other positioned at said output end, B. means provided on each said mobile carriage for supporting said strip reel, C. means for moving and guiding each said mobile carriage into a first, or work position, and into a second, or inoperative position, D. strip guiding means mounted on each said mobile carriage at a distance from said strip reel for engaging, positioning and guiding said strip externally of said reel; said strip guiding means moving with its associated mobile carriage as a unit; in said work position said strip guiding means being adjacent and in cooperating position with respect to said roller pair of said rolling mill for establishing and maintaining a running connection of said strip between said roller pair of said rolling mill and said strip guiding means.
 2. An improvement as defined in claim 1, wherein said strip guiding means is formed of an assembly of rollers through which the leading end of said strip is threaded.
 3. An improvement as defined in claim 2, wherein each said roller has an axis of rotation disposed normal to the running direction of said strip.
 4. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the guiding means for each said mobile carriage include two parallel rails disposed parallel to the direction of travel of said strip through said work station.
 5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the moving means for each said mobile carriage include jacks, one part of which is affixed to said work station and the other part of which is affixed to each said mobile carriage.
 6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, including means to immobilize each said carrIage in its work position.
 7. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, including a removable base between the work position and each said carriage when the latter is in a location spaced from its work position. 